In domestic clothes dryers there has been a concern with respect to the build up of lint in the dryer or the ducting exiting the dryer, which build up of lint may result in the possibility of a fire in the dryer. As lint builds up in the dryer it creates a restriction on the airflow through the dryer. U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,977 issued to Beaumount discloses a safety system located outside of the dryer that measures the airflow in the exhaust vent and disconnects power to the household dryer female plug receptacle in the event that the airflow drops below a predetermined value.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,655,047 issued to Miller, II discloses a fire arrester for use with a clothes dryer that has a fire detector in a dryer vent externally of the dryer that detects fires starting in the dryer and disconnects electricity to the dryer while at the same time releasing an extinguishing agent into the dryer to suppress a fire. Neither of these two U.S. patents teaches the use of fuses in the dryer to disconnect power to the dryer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,315,765 issued to Holst discloses a circuitry for a high efficiency microwave dryer wherein the live wire lines each has a fuse connected in circuit therewith. A third fuse is connected in circuit with a DC power supply. This patent teaches these fuses being current limiting fuses. There is no teaching of the physical location of these fuses in the dryer cabinet. U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,861 also discloses a fuse in dryer circuitry for disconnecting power to the dryer control circuit. There is no teaching in this patent of the physical location of the fuses in the dryer cabinet. Further, neither of these two US patents discloses the purpose of these fuses other than to be current limiting fuses.
As a result of testing done on domestic clothes dryers, it has been determined that electrical arcing between wires in the cabinet of the dryer can cause fire on the wire coatings of the wire, can spread fire to other areas in the dryer or ignite a cheese cloth draped over the dryer cabinet where the cheese cloth represents clothing left on top of the dryer by a user. Testing has shown that this arcing has caused cheese cloth, representing dust or lint trapped in the dryer or other items placed on or beside the dryer, to catch fire. The mere use of fuses in the wiring circuitry of the power lines may not be sufficient to reduce the risk of fire due to arcing between live wires. Further, the use of power disconnect devices other than fuses may be too slow or not sufficiently sensitive to disconnect power from the dryer when initial arcing occurs between wires. Also, power disconnect devices may not protect against arcing due to fires being random and the power disconnect device not reacting to potential causes of the fire resulting in a fire being produced in the dryer cabinet or on the outside of the cabinet. Consequently there is a need in domestic clothes dryers to provide for power disconnection to the dryer electrical load in the cabinet such that the wiring in the cabinet is a reduced safety hazard.